Josh McDaniels Focused On Patriots, Not Head Coaching Vacancies

BOSTON (CBS) — The calendar has flipped to December, and that means several NFL teams are already thinking ahead about their next head coach.

And with that come several rumors that Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels will be landing a head coaching gig somewhere else next season. Even though The Visored One left the Indianapolis Colts at the altar in spectacular fashion last offseason, teams are still interesting in bringing McDaniels in to run their franchise.

The Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers are both intriguing options for McDaniels, and he’s been connected to each of them over the last few days. That list should only grow in the coming weeks and months.

But asked about these rumors on his weekly conference call on Tuesday, McDaniels said his focus is on the present and not the future.

“I don’t really worry about the future and honestly, each week is a tremendous challenge and we try to stay in the moment and focus on the task at hand, which this week is obviously considerable considering that we haven’t had a lot of success down there,” said McDaniels, who is focused on New England’s upcoming road tilt against the Dolphins. “This is a big challenge for us. I didn’t do nearly well enough in my role and my job last year when we went down there to Miami, so there’s a lot for us to look at and a great defense for us to go there and face where they play extremely well at home.

“All the other stuff is just, it is what it is and don’t really pay too much attention to it,” McDaniels added. “I love what we do here in terms of working hard to try to come up with the best plan for our players each week and that’s where my focus is going to remain.”

Asked if it’s still his dream to get another shot as a head coach, McDaniels didn’t deny those hopes. But he again said his focus is in the now and not the then.

“If that’s in the cards for me, then that’s great. I’ve said that before. But again, I’m not worried about that right now,” said McDaniels.